Lack of interest Get email for all replies

[kevincox]

Right now when I get an email it doesn't send me another message until I visit the topic again. This is not the behaviour I want for a number of reasons

1. I often get messages that I don't need to respond to. I just want to see them and delete the email without taking any further action.
   1. Especially messages such as "+1", "me too" or "thanks".
2. It means that if I search my email for part of a conversation I may not find it because the message was not delivered to me.
3. It is always a little unsure for me if I have successfully re-activated email notifications when I go back to the site.
   1. I need to check that I am logged in.
   2. I feel I need to wait a bit in case the notification is async after the page load.
   3. Do I need to be on the latest message in the thread?
   4. Basically there isn't really a good indication that emails have been "reactivated" so I am worried that I won't be notified if new messages come in.

So it would be nice if there was an option to get emails for all messages on watched threads.

 

[djbaxter]

You don't need to read everything. Just periodically click on "mark all unread" to reset all threads.

This is how the system is designed to work and how it should work. Most forum software does this, at least all of the varieties that I have used over the years.

If it were changed to what you are asking, it's not just you who would be affected but all of your members, including those who don't log in frequently. That could potentially mean multiple emails being sent to people which would have two unwanted consequences:

1. it would put extra stress on those sites with email limits or restrictions, as in the case of shared hosting or small VPS accounts; and
2. it would potentially lead to getting your site reported for spam, or at least increase the likelihood of that happening.

 

[kevincox]

This is how the system is designed to work and how it should work.

It is nice that you think that this system works perfectly for everyone, but I am here explaining that in fact there are multiple ways that people work, and for some people (at least me) there are better options.

Most forum software does this

This is not a strong argument for any kind of behaviour. Furthermore most sites I have used don't have this behaviour, to the point where I was surprised to see that I had more replies even though I only got one email after subscribing to email notifications. That is my mistake for not reading the light grey text at the bottom of the email, but now that I realized my mistake I would like to have an option to make XenForo work well for me. Some sites do it both way, and make it makes sense to support both.

it's not just you who would be affected but all of your members

This doesn't need to be enabled by default. It could just be an option in the notification settings. It could also be advertised in the email under the warning that you won't get new updates. "You will not receive any further emails about this thread until you have read the new messages. If you would like to receive all messages in the future click here to update your settings."

I had added a note to the bottom of the original post to make it clear that I didn't expect this to be the default behaviour.

it would put extra stress on those sites with email limits or restrictions

This is true, and maybe there could be limits put in place. It seems like this could happen anyways by someone subscribing to every thread. But either way this seems like a limitation only for some sites and shouldn't be blocked from all sites because of that. Many owners would happily trade a higher email load for more activity.

it would potentially lead to getting your site reported for spam

This seems unlikely if it is opt-in. Even if it wasn't I doubt there is that much higher chance the the second message gets reported than the first.

 

[dotgarden]

I too am looking for this behavior for a closed community forum. It's weird there is not a setting to change how many times a person can get immediate updates. Like if someone goes away for the weekend, they stop getting updates.

One sort of bandaid I made was the send those daily digests starting on not coming around for 1 day. So that everyone, regardless of them missing 1 email, will get a daily digest.

But, it's wonky.

I would love to be able to set it for like, 1 or 2 weeks. Like you will keep getting immediate updates for X and after that date, you will get updates X days.

*** Again, this is for a CLOSED community

 

[dotgarden]

Just found this https://xenforo.com/community/resources/whats-new-digest.6596/ looks promising

 

[beerForo]

It could certainly be a user option. And since other forum software was brought up, there are many now that let you reply via email, so you actually do get every reply, and you can reply straight from your inbox.

 

[beerForo]

MAYBE the function you want is to reply to a post via email. Since, receiving notifications for each reply is an inherent part. Then, this could be a separate function for XF, and the normal one we have now could stay as-is.

 

[dotgarden]

no, I'm interested in serving the lurkers that are in our closed community that don't want to login to anything, but want simple updates.
Currently have the summary set to 1 day and every 1 day. It sorta works.

 

[beerForo]

The problem with that strategy is you will get tons of unsubscribes now.

 

[dotgarden]

I have a total of 50 users that are motivated. . Closed community...

 

[AndyB]

You might like this add-on:

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/weekly-newsletter.8091/